By James Mackenzie, Nidal al-Mughrabi, Maayan Lubell and Emily Rose
JERUSALEM/CAIRO (Reuters) -Palestinians headed for the rubble of their former homes in the Gaza Strip on Sunday and Israelis prepared to receive the first hostages still held by Hamas after a ceasefire deal took effect that could pave the way for an end to the 15-month-old war.
The war between Israel and Hamas, which began after the militants stormed Israeli towns and villages on Oct. 7, 2023, has reduced the Gaza strip to a wasteland, killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and made nearly the entire 2.3 million population of the enclave homeless.
The ceasefire agreement follows months of on-off negotiations brokered by Egypt, Qatar and the United States. It comes into effect on the eve of the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who put pressure on both Hamas and Israel to bring fighting to a halt before he takes office.
Whether or not the initial 42-day ceasefire holds, the deal will provide temporary relief to shell-shocked Gazans and respite to families of Israeli and foreign hostages due to be freed in return for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Some Palestinians walked towards cemeteries in Gaza to visit the graves of slain relatives and others rushed towards destroyed neighbourhoods to try to find family whose bodies remain buried.
Drone footage showed hundreds of Gazans shuffling along dirt roads, flanked by miles of residential blocks reduced to mounds of smashed concrete, metal and rubble.
“I feel like at last I found some water to drink after getting lost in the desert for 15 months. I feel alive again,” Aya Mohammad, 31, told Reuters by chat app from Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza where she had been sheltering with her family after fleeing Gaza City.
“We’re now waiting for the day we can head back to our home in Gaza City. Life isn’t going to be better, because of the destruction and the losses we suffered. But at least no more bloodshed of women and children, I hope that is it.”
The ceasefire came into effect at 0915 GMT, nearly three hours after it was meant to begin. During the delay, Israeli warplanes veered through the Gaza skies and launched strikes.
Palestinian medics said 13 people were killed in northern Gaza during the delay. Israel said it had struck terrorists.
Israel blamed Hamas for the delay, saying the group was late in sending the names of the first three hostages it would release on Sunday. Hamas, which said the delay was due to technical hitches, finally sent a list of the names about two hours after the agreed implementation time of 0630 GMT.
A Palestinian official said the holdup in sending the list was caused by Israel’s continued bombardment which hindered contact.
HOSTAGES FOR PRISONERS
While Gazans breathed a sigh of relief, Israel prepared for the return of hostages. Hamas took some 250 people hostage during their deadly attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Around half were freed during the war’s only previous truce, which lasted a week in Nov. 2023. Many of the rest are believed to have been killed.
The ceasefire deal provides for the phased release of 33 hostages during the first six-week phase. Hamas identified the first three who would go free on Sunday in exchange for 90 Palestinians. All three were women: Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. Israel did not immediately confirm the names.
The Palestinians include 737 prisoners, some of whom are members of militant groups convicted of attacks that killed dozens of Israelis.
Hamas, which controls the besieged coastal enclave of Gaza, sparked the war by attacking towns in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages.
Israel’s bombardment of Gaza in retaliation against Hamas has killed nearly 47,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza-based health officials. Those include thousands of Hamas fighters and the group’s top military leaders, but the U.N. human rights office says the majority of deaths it has verified are women and children.
Around 400 Israeli soldiers have been killed in combat in Gaza.
The assault has destroyed the territory’s infrastructure and made almost all its 2.3 million residents homeless.
Israel also took on Iran’s proxies, conducting a series of airstrikes and assassinations in Lebanon, Syria and Iran that have left in tatters much of Iran’s “Axis of Resistance” network of paramilitary groups nurtured over decades.
In a major parallel war in Lebanon last year, Israel destroyed much of the leadership of that country’s powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah militia. That was swiftly followed by the downfall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, toppled by rebels in a sudden lightning offensive after being sustained by Iran, Hezbollah and Russia for more than years of civil war.
If the ceasefire leads to a prolonged halt in fighting, what will come next in Gaza remains unclear. There is no clear plan for postwar Gaza, which will take billions of dollars and years to rebuild. Israel says it will return to war if Hamas returns.
Israel’s Gaza assault has also come at a diplomatic price as it faces international outrage and isolation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces an International Criminal Court arrest warrant on war crimes allegations, and Israel faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice.
Israel says the cases are baseless and fueled by antisemitism, and it has been exercising its right to defend itself.
(Reporting by James Mackenzie, Maayan Lubell, Emily Rose, Andrew Mills, Menna Alaa al-Din, Nidal al-Mughrabi, Alexander Cornwell; Writing by John Davison; Editing by Deepa Babington, Michael Perry and William Mallard)
